


Now More Than Ever

by sea_side



Category: Death Stranding (Video Games)
Genre: F/M, Second Chance, Secret Identity, Slow Burn, Time Travel, my excuse to write Higgs/Fragile fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-21
Updated: 2019-12-21
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:21:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21888097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sea_side/pseuds/sea_side
Summary: When Amelie offers Higgs a second chance, he doesn’t think twice.He’s sure this time he won’t miss any opportunity to get a better outcome.But when he meets Fragile again, he has to reconsider what „better“ actually means.
Relationships: Fragile/Higgs Monaghan
Comments: 13
Kudos: 12





	Now More Than Ever

Eternal solitude was a harsh term for this. The beach was peaceful, the white noise of the ocean whispered softly in Higgs’ ears. He left the rifle where it was and instead decided to take a stroll around the land. It wasn’t that bad, maybe a bit monotonous and greyscale but beaches were formed by their owners after all. He could imagine it to turn this into a more enjoyable place while he waited. This was his home after all.

Stroking a black rock with his hands he found this place was already beautiful in it’s own way. Fragile had no clue what this beach meant to him and that leaving him here was a gift. He had expected her to kill him. He had feared he would never see the end of all this. But she gave him a chance and he would take it. No matter how long he had to wait, he would stay until the ocean turned red and earth rose like a fireball on the horizon. He had dreamed about it multiple times and marveled at it’s beauty. It was his fate to witness this.

So he sat down on a rock to watch the sea and listen to it’s song. He was slumbering already when he noticed a crunching noise in the distance that grew louder. Blinking, he slowly turned his head to discover that someone was on the way to him. A familiar shape with a bright red dress shimmering in the faint sunlight. He smiled. She came back to him after all.

Her features were relaxed as much as they could be, with her absent minded but severe expression. She joined him in watching the sea.  
„It’s beautiful,isn’t it?“, she whispered in awe.  
Higgs did agree.  
But as much as he liked her presence, he wanted her to feel sorry.

„Why did you leave me?“, he asked simply.   
He saw her wiping a strand of her blonde hair back behind her ear before she spoke.  
„I didn’t leave you. I’ve always been here.“  
Higgs lifted a sharp rock, weighed it in his hand before he threw it into the water as far as he could and watched it disappear in the depths.  
„I can’t feel you anymore.“ He sounded more hurt than he intended.

Amelie turned around and looked at him with a regretful expression.  
„You lost the fight,“ she explained. „I couldn’t save you.“  
Higgs snorted.  
„So you cut the cord and left the sinking ship to save yourself.“  
Amelie crossed her arms and continued watching the sea in silence. Sometimes he just couldn’t argue with her.

„What will happen to the world now?“, he asked instead. „Did you change your plan?“  
„No“, she whispered smiling. „I only delayed it.“  
Higgs nodded.  
„We’ll wait then,“ he said and relaxed. He didn’t mind.

„There’s just one thing, Higgs“, she spoke louder now and he tensed again.  
„You have the choice, wether you wait on the beach for thousands of years until the extinction or…“  
„I know“, he waved her off. „I’ll go with the wait. I’m not curious about the afterlife.“  
Amelie silenced and bit her lip.  
„I wasn’t referring to the afterlife,“ the said eyeing the ocean again, „but if you made your decision already I won’t ask you.“

Higgs was about to facepalm. He left the rock and approached her.  
„Amelie…I’m sorry. Sometimes I just can’t hold my tongue. Please, go on…“  
She stroked her Quipu in silence for a while. 

„It is true that you lost this one fight, but the whole matter it isn’t over yet. I can send you back and let you try again.“  
Higgs struggled to follow her.  
„But…you said you delayed your plan…and didn’t Sam convince you to wait?“  
Amelie smiled mysteriously.  
„You know, chiral matter is unaffected by time. I can send you back in time to give you a second chance. What do you think?“ She eyed him with curiosity.

Higgs needed a second to understand what she just said. A second chance…to get a better outcome…to be finally remembered as the herald of the last stranding.   
As much as he liked the peaceful silence of the beach - if he stayed here, no one would remember him. The tiredness faded from him, he felt energy pulse in his veins again. He needed this.  
He beamed at Amelie, his angel, his savior.  
„This is the greatest gift you could make me. Send me back.“  
Amelie chuckled and came closer, offering him her hand.  
Higgs put his hand in hers and jumped when a bolt of energy stroked him and the beach disappeared.

He woke up lying under a timefall shelter. The grey sky showed a chiralium rainbow on the horizon.  
In comparison of the beach, the world of the living was much more noisy. All the crunching and rustling when he straightened himself to see where he landed. He was wearing a porter uniform  
and staples of cargo lied next to him. An alarm was ringing, supposedly to wake him up in time. He adjusted his cap that had lied over his face while he was sleeping.   
Oh well, he thought looking at the cargo, here we go again. Too late to mourn the loss of his comfy beach. This time he would make a difference.


End file.
